The Manipulation Games: No One Left
by Spectrobes Princess
Summary: Johanna's POV of Catching Fire, the sequel to my other story The Manipulation Games but can be read on it's own . Johanna Mason thought she was safe from the wrath of President Snow and The Hunger Games forever, but she couldn't have been more wrong. Now, to protect the few people she loves, she will once again have to put on a face for Panem. But at what cost?
1. The First Signs Of Rebellion

**1/3/15**

**Hi guys! **

**R****eaders of The Manipulation Games, I'm terribly sorry that it's taken me so long to post this. For the past couple of days I've been too busy to update. The bonus chapter will be posted tomorrow.**

**For those of you who haven't read the first story, that's okay. Unlike many sequels, this one can probably be read on it's own. If anything's confusing, just ask. I solemnly swear not to laugh at any dumb questions.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: The First Signs of Rebellion<p>

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

That's the peaceful sound of nothingness I've been listening to for the past 5 hours. The sound of water hitting the bottom of the little cave on the edge of District 7. And yes, it is the same cave where I first learned about the beginnings of the rebellion. In recent years, it's became my little hiding spot. The place I go when I want to block out the world. And it's really nice, too. Blight picked up on this early enough to know that, when I go here, I want to be alone. And luckily for me, he respects that. It must've rubbed off on him, too, because I've caught him sneaking in here a couple times.

But the thing about this place is that it's, well, really boring. And those of you that know me can tell just how much of a problem that is. I've gotten better at this over the years, but I'm still awfully bad at entertaining myself. Maybe it would be better if Katniss Everdeen actually did something rebellious like we're hoping she does. Then I could dwell on that in a creepy manner.

Which brings me to another problem. I'm still wondering how that old drunk Haymitch is going to pull off a rebellion. If I recall correctly, the first year I mentored he passed out on the floor and stayed there for half the time. He couldn't quite hold his liquor as well as he can now. Maybe he started drinking more because of me and Finnick. I guess he's gained a couple of grey hairs from Cashmere too. But whatever it is we did, I have absolutely no regrets.

Really, I don't.

And of course, that's when my totally useless cellphone decides to ding. If I had it my way, I'd have nothing to do with the stupid thing. But Blight insisted that he needs to be able to contact me at any time, and it was either this or a tracker chip implanted in my ear. This stupid thing was the obvious choice.

I pick it up and read my message. _You're about to miss District 11._

Um, does it look like I care? I groan and shove my phone into the pocket of my crimson jacket. I walk a couple of feet until I reach the end of the cave, and when I'm sure that the ground isn't slippery anymore it turns into a run. I may not care, but I guess I do need to see this.

When I reach Ivy's old house the remaining District 7 victors, Pine and Blight, are already gathered in the living room watching the broadcast. Pine's an older man, the victor of the 4th Hunger Games to be exact, with gray hair and brown eyes. He's been wheelchair-bound for as long as I can remember. On the other hand, you could say that Blight looks kinda like I do, with our matching dark hair and a similar rebellious flicker in our eyes. Sure, his eyes are amber and mine are dark brown, but I had to get _something_ from my mother...

Yeah, that's right. Blight's my father. But that's kind of besides the point, isn't it? As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't really matter.

"Took you long enough," Pine laughs.

"You were about to miss it," Blight says.

"So?" I scoff. Pine gives me a pointed look.

"Jo-Jo… he put down the cards."

"Who?" I ask.

"Peeta Mellark," Blight says.

"How am I not surprised? I guess not everyone can be as un-rebellious as Shey, huh? But I guess that's a good thing," I smirk, taking a seat between Blight and Pine. It's not that Shey Bradford, the District 10 girl who won the year after I did, is loyal to the Capitol. Quite the opposite, actually. She's just not as vocal about it as the rest of us are.

"_But I feel as if I did know Rue, and she'll always be with me. Everything beautiful brings her to mind. I see her in the yellow flowers that grow in the Meadow by my house. I see her in the mockingjays that sing in the trees. But most of all, I see her in my sister, Prim. Thank you for your children. And thank you all for the bread."_

"Thank you all for the bread," I sneer mockingly. "Who does that brainless little wimp think she is anyways! Why does she get to be the figure of the rebellion? Haven't I done enough!"

Blight laughs and shakes his head at Pine. "You never learn, do you Johanna?"

I growl and sink into the couch before paying attention to the screen again. But I pay attention at the completely wrong time. In fact, I'm just in time to see Ryson, the wise old mentor from District 11 who's been my friend for so many years, being dragged up to the stage. I hold in a gasp of horror as a Peacekeeper holds a gun to Ryson's head. Seeder and Chaff watch helplessly as that skunk shoots their former mentor.

"Oh my gosh," I whisper. My eyes narrow at the TV, as if I'm wondering if what I just saw was real.

"This is really happening," Pine whispers.

"What happened?" I ask in shock.

"They… they all whistled and held up their fingers," Pine says frantically. "The same way they did when that little girl died..."

"I have a finger _I'd_ like to hold up," I interrupt with a growl.

"Don't you see? This is finally happening," Blight says. "This… this is just the thing we needed! Maybe this is enough to snap Everdeen to her senses!"

For once, Blight's right. I don't have time to feel sorry for District 11, or Ryson, or his tributes. The rebellion is finally starting, after all these agonizing years of waiting. And I'm more ready than I'll ever be.


	2. A Visit From The Mayor

1/8/15

**Hi again! Sorry for taking so long. School has started back up for me and we're using a different curriculum, so I'm still trying to get used to the new schedule. It wouldn't be a problem, except it feels like we're doing twice the amount of work, even though we're not. **

**Anyways, enough of my ranting. This chapter has a bit of OOC Johanna, in a way, but that's mostly because I wrote this during NaNoWriMo fueled on chocolate, dr. pepper, and pure exhaustion. I've edited it to no avail, but it just won't get better. So yeah, sorry about that. On the bright side, this chapter gives Manipulation readers a bit of an update on Ava. **

**Thank you KC99 for following, Mistycharming for following, NotYourNormalFangirl for following and favoriting, Lya200 for following and favoriting, ColMikeFuser for following, Cytryne for following and favoriting, crazyikleangel for following, and stellaslomp for following and favoriting.**

**Reviews:**

**Lya200: Knowing Jo, she'll be right in the middle of it, too ;)**

**ColMikeFuser: I figure that President Snow is used to the victors openly showing rebellion at this point. As long as the citizens can't witness it, he probably doesn't do anything about it. The Peacekeepers, however, is another story…**

**Dcow14: Yeah, when me and my sister came up with names for all the victors, we had to pick which ones died too (because it mentioned in Catching Fire how many were left) and we ended up being one victor short. So we decided to make the old man who started the rebellion in District 11 one of them.**

**Stellaslomp: Definitely something Johanna would do, right?**

**Gabby Delacour: Glad you like it :)**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own THG or anything else I may mention.**_

…**. **

Chapter 2: A Visit From The Mayor

Since Ryson's death, things have slowed down again. Instead of rebellion sweeping the district like I expected, no one's done anything. And I do mean _anything_. Where is District 7's courage when we need it most? What happened to that undying spirit I've seen in our citizens? It just doesn't make sense. But then again, neither do most things in life.

I collapse on the couch in my living room and toss a blanket over me. I'm not in the mood to do anything other than take a nap, so at this point I guess I could use a bit of rest. I'm just about to drift off to sleep when I hear a knock at the door. I groan and bury my head in the arm of the couch. I _really_ don't want to deal with this right now.

There's another knock. And another, which is soon followed by even more knocks. I yawn and throw the blanket off of me. Cold air hits my bare arms as I get up to answer the door. I knew wearing a short-sleeved shirt was a bad idea, considering that it's December and all, but I could really care less.

"Roland?" I yawn sleepily. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready for the victory tour?"

The mayor laughs nervously and shakes his head. "Sorry to disturb you Johanna. I'm just passing on a message."

"Okay then," I sigh. "Since I'm already up, you might as well tell me."

Roland frowns and looks at the ground. "President Snow wants all the victors to leave the district before Katniss and Peeta get here."

"What?" I scoff. "That's flipping ridiculous. The victors are always here to show the newbies around. That's just how it is. Why would we… oh."

"Yeah, oh. We wouldn't want another Ryson, would we?"

"I guess not," I say in disappointment. "But where do we go?"

"Just go ahead and go to the Capitol. Seeing that next year is the Quarter Quell, they'll want all the victors there anyways," Roland says.

"Right. Well, it's nice to know that I won't have to wait until then to meet the mockingjay after all," I laugh.

"You should be careful where you say those things," Roland points out. "If I didn't know you I'd have arrested you by now."

"Don't worry about it. I'm careful enough. Besides, Snow can't do anything to hurt me," I scoff. "I'm not even that excited to meet her. She's a little less than incompetent, isn't she?"

"Well, I don't exactly know what the rebels are thinking, but there _is _something special about her. It's like she was born for this," Roland says.

"Oh trust me, she was. She just doesn't know it."

"Why, is there a prophecy or something I should know about?" Roland asks.

"No, not really. It's stupid, forget I said that," I say.

"You can tell me," Roland says.

I sigh. "Well, apparently her father was training her to be a potential rebellion leader. She just turned out a little better than everyone expected her to."

"Who was her father?" Roland asks.

"A victor," I say simply. "She just doesn't know it."

"Ash Everdeen?" Roland asks.

"Bingo," I say, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't know how they've managed to keep her from figuring it out though. Or why they didn't tell her. Anyways, the Capitol is too dumb to notice and if the districts know- which they probably do- they just haven't said anything. Or, you know, they don't want to put that kind of pressure on her shoulders. But the thing is, _I've_ been dealing with that kind of pressure for years and no one seems to care, now do they?"

"As much as I find this conversation to be interesting, I need to leave. Can you tell the other victors for me?" Roland interrupts.

"I was ranting again, wasn't I?" I apologize.

"You've made it very clear how much you wanted to be the one to lead this rebellion. And I'm sorry that it can't be you," Roland says.

"Really, that's okay," I say in defeat. "As long as I'm the one to kill Snow, I'll be fine. Bitter, but fine."

"I knew that from the beginning. If the president had any brains at all he'd keep you _very_ far from him," Roland laughs.

My lips form a smirk. "His brain seems to be getting increasingly smaller, doesn't it? What happened to leaving?"

"I was just about to," Roland says. "Oh, by the way, I talked to Avalon."

It seems that Roland won't be leaving any time soon.

"You did? Was she doing okay?" I ask, my voice etched with concern.

"Better than ever," Roland laughs. "When was the last time you talked to her?"

"Oh, it's been a while. But it's better that way, I guess," I say wistfully. "How old is she now? I seem to be forgetting."

"10 or so," Roland says.

"That's right," I say. "Silly me, how could I forget." A thought hits me. That means Ava's been in the Capitol for 7 years. Maple's been dead for 7 years. Almost 8 years, I guess. Crap, that makes me feel old.

"So what all did she have to say?" I ask, changing the subject only slightly.

"Various things. She's trying to be friends with Rose Snow's little group, she wishes her school would teach a little more science, just the same things she always talks about," Roland says.

"Oh," I say. "You should probably be going."

"Right," Roland says before leaving. He turn back just as I'm closing the door. "Oh, and Johanna?"

"Yes?" I ask impatiently.

"She misses you," Roland says.

A smile tugs at my face. Ava remembers me. She actually remembers me. For some reason I didn't think she would.

"You know what? I miss her too," I say wistfully, briefly remembering my best friend's little cousin the way she was. And from the sound of it, she's still the same person. I just hope that sound is right.

…**..**

**Who liked the plot twist with Katniss and her dad? It sounds a little bit implausible right now, but me and Taylor have taken the time to find excuses for all the plot holes it creates. I would tell you to ask me anything, but my sis is the one who's writing about his Games. You may have to ask her in case it gives anything away for her story. **

**Oh my gosh guys, the most incredible thing just happened! My cat Togetic (yes, like the Pokémon, don't laugh), has been missing for the past 6 months, and until now I had completely lost hope that he'll ever come back. But about an hour ago I was looking at my area's "lost and found pets" Facebook page, just in case, and one of the first cats I saw looked **_**exactly **_**like Toga! Like, I even got out pictures to compare to him, and I'm 98% sure it's him!**

**Unfortunately, it wasn't an ad saying that someone found him, exactly. Long story short, it was a "lost pet **_**spotted**_**" ad, and apparently people in the nearby area have seen him recently. What makes me so happy about this is that the place he was last seen at is less than a 10 minute drive from where I live. It may sound like a long distance for a cat to travel but, assuming that I've got the right cat in mind, he can be quite the roamer. **

**In other words, if this really is Togetic I might get him back soon! **

**Quote of the day!**

"_You sure you're angry? You look more beat up to me." _–some kind of Avengers cartoon my brother's watching, Hawkeye

**May the odds be ever in your favor,**

**Spectrobes Princess**


	3. The Victors' Lodge

1/12/15

**Hi again! Well, I tried. I promise I'll start updating faster when I get the hang of my new school stuff. Which, on the bright side, I'm starting to. (except for Physics, which I will always harbor a special kind of hatred for…)**

**Anyways, thank you peetaobsession for following, ElderVye for following and favoriting, and gameshungry91 for following. :)**

**Lya200: Thanks, I think it was my sister's idea but I could be wrong.**

**Kgoodwin918: I'll keep you guys posted, don't worry **

**Gabby Delacour: Trust me, Johanna isn't a happy camper. I think it was more of getting revenge on President Snow than hatred for his granddaughter, though. It's like that old saying, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.**

**Stellaslomp: After Haymitch won, Ash pretty much "retired" from being a victor and tried to blend in as an ordinary citizen. That would mean working in the mines. The whole "Ash and Katniss" thing will come up again later, though.**

**Reader4life: Thanks :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.**

…**.**

Chapter 3: The Victors' Lodge

The train screeches to a stop as we arrive in the Capitol. Blight squeezes my shoulder reassuringly, and I clutch the handles of Pine's wheelchair just a little more tightly.

"Well, we're here," I sigh.

"Yeah, I guess we are," Blight says emotionlessly.

"You know, I never thought I'd be back here. I just imagined that you Masons would have everything under control for mentoring, and I didn't quite think I'd live to see the Quell," Pine rambles.

"Come on," I say nervously. "Let's get to the Training Center before anyone notices us."

"That's not where we're going," Blight laughs.

"Oh really brainiac? Then where _are _we going?" I sass.

Blight looks at me like I'm ignorant. "The victors' lodge."

Oh. Now I feel dumb.

I ignore my embarrassment as I wheel Pine off the train. "Then let's get to the _victors' lodge_ before anyone notices us. Who's here by now?"

"Probably everyone," Blight admits. "Our train was running a little late."

"Of course it was," I huff. "Come on, let's go."

We catch a bus to the victor's lodge, but not without being noticed. By the time we reach our destination, I'm so tired of flash photography that I want to murder the person who invented it. Unfortunately, I can't because he or she has long since died. I try to shove my murderous rage to the side as I push open the heavy door.

The victors' lodge isn't a very fancy place, despite what the title suggests. It's pretty big, but not a fancy kind of big. Mags, the first victor of the Hunger Games, bought it a couple years after she won. Over the years, it's just kind of turned into a place for victors to gather when we're all gathered in the Capitol for something like this.

When I go inside, I quickly spot one of the few people I consider my friend these days. Even though the victors are like a big family, there's very few that I'm close to. And somehow, the presence of this one doesn't shock me. She's about 20, only a couple years younger than I am, with curly platinum hair and wide pale green eyes. Of course the Capitol would want her here. The poor thing is like Finnick, another one of President Snow's pawns. But what does shock me about her being here, is the black bruise over one of those eyes.

"What happened?" I ask in shock. I let go of Pine's wheelchair, leaving him to push himself into a different room, and approach her slowly.

She doesn't answer for a minute, before finally speaking. "My district happened," she says weakly. "There was this riot, and… I got caught up in it."

"Oh Cashmere," I sigh. "What _are_ we going to do with you?"

"That's what I've been wondering for the past 20 years," her brother says, walking in with a small bag of ice. Cashmere takes it from him and holds it over her black eye.

"What do you mean you got caught up in it?" Blight asks.

"She was shielding one of the few innocent Peacekeepers," Gloss explains.

"I didn't know those existed," I scoff. I take a seat on the bench next to Cashmere, and Gloss sits on the opposite side of her. "So are you okay?"

"Y-yeah. It's just a black eye. Finnick and Lyme have _scars_ on their faces. If they can handle those, I guess I'll be okay," Cash sighs.

"Well, that's the spirit," Gloss says awkwardly.

"Have you seen what Shey has on her arm? It's pretty gruesome," I say when she shakes her head.

"I'll take your word for it," she says. "Do you know how long it takes black eyes to heal?"

"I got one when I was in 4th grade," I shrug. "I was a little too young to remember how long it took. But look at the bright side. You're lucky to _only_ have a black eye."

"Well, she scrapped both of her knees too, but you just can't see that right now," Gloss explains.

"Okay, then you're lucky to only have a black eye and two scraped knees. And I guess that was pretty brave of you," I say.

Cashmere looks at me as if I'm crazy. "I'm not brave. I was just doing what anyone would have done."

I don't bother to tell her that no, that's not what most people would have done. Her faith in humanity is small enough as it is. Obviously we can't all be as forgiving as Annie Cresta. Speaking of which, her and Finnick should be around here somewhere.

Someone taps on my shoulder and I jump up in surprise. Yep, they're here.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Annie says quietly.

I don't know what to say to that, so I just shrug. "I see you made it here okay."

"Um, barely," Finnick points out. "The guy who was driving the taxi we were in? He was scared of us. Maybe he thought I had my trident with me or something," he says, even though we all know that it was _Annie_ he was scared of. And honestly, that's the dumbest crap I've ever heard of.

"Ha, jokes on him. Doesn't he know that thing's too big to bring with you?" Cashmere smirks, finally bouncing back to normal.

"Yeah, that skull of his must be pretty empty," Finnick agrees.

"So, what are we talking about?" a voice asks from seemingly nowhere.

"You're not fooling anyone Shey, we know you're up there," Gloss yells at the air vents.

"Aww, how did you guess?" Shey says, her voice muffled by the wall.

"You always hide there," Annie says quietly.

"Okay, you got me. Um… could someone help me get out? I'm kinda lost."

Yep, just another day at the victors' lodge. And somehow, I've grown to love it.

…**.**

**Remember Cashmere's The Manipulation Games cameo? Yeah, I put that in there for a reason. She's going to be appearing quite a bit until, you know, Johanna kills her. Which brings up the question, how exactly did that happen? Only I know the answer, for now. *evil laugh***

**Anyways, you'll find out soon enough. And for once it's not one of my strangely complicated plot twists. The only plot twist I see here is her and Johanna being close friends. I usually see them portrayed as worst enemies.**

**Quote of the day!**

"_Beware Hunger Games fans, the Odesta shippers have gifs now. Oh how we've waited for this moment! __**We will conquer the universe!"**_–someone on Tumblr who I _wholeheartedly _agree with

**May the odds be ever in your favor,**

**Spectrobes Princess, soldier of the Odesta army ;)**


	4. Choices We Make

1/17/15

**Hi again! Sorry I took so long. School's taking as much time as ever *gags*. Anyways, this chapter feels a little rushed, probably because there's so much dialogue, but it's another of the chapters I rushed through. I would've polished it up, but I feel bad for taking so long to update. I'll try to get the next chapter fixed, though.**

**Thank you SPARIA89 for favoriting, ArcanineHeritage for following and favoriting, Rachel Chen for following and favoriting, anggelica2018 for following, likethewordish for following, smg55 for following, and thechamberofmahogany for following and favoriting.**

**Reviews:**

**Lya200: I can totally picture the victors' lodge being in a constant state of dysfunction. There's so many victors that there's guaranteed to be a clash of personality.**

**Stellaslomp: Thanks :)**

**Dcow14: I hope so too, although he hasn't showed up. I'm sure he will soon, though.**

**SPARIA89: Thanks **

**ElderVye: To be honest, I'm not really sure. I think I might've came up with it because of another fanfiction I read, only they were enemies in that one, but I don't quite think that's it…**

**ArcanineHeritage: I can tell by your username that you like Pokémon too :)**

_**Disclaimer- I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.**_

…**.**

Chapter 4: Choices We Make

The victory ball is even more extravagant than usual. I swear, the tables are made of solid gold this time. Maybe the floors, too. And, of course, Snow's infamous cashmere curtains are hung oh-so primly over the windows. Gag me.

"Nice party, huh?" a voice asks from behind me.

"Well Bubble, this is the Capitol. Nothing but the best for their two precious victors," I sneer.

The District 1 mentor steps in front of me and lowers her voice. "You know Plutarch Heavensbee?"

"You mean Snow's new lap-dog? Of course I do, who doesn't know him?" I scoff. "Why ask?"

Bubble's eyes flicker around the room nervously. "There's a meeting in the Gamemakers' control room at midnight. Get there as soon as possible, bring your father and Pine. Got it?"

"How do we know we can trust him?" I ask blankly. "What if he's leading us into a trap?"

"He's not," Bubble assures me. "I've gotta go. Keep an eye on Finnick and Cashmere though, will you? We don't need them getting dragged off."

"I think Annie and Gloss have that covered," I say dismissively.

"Think again," Bubble laughs, gesturing to Gloss and Shey who are currently dancing with each other.

"Well, it's about time," I smirk. Noticing the look on Bubble's face, I add, "Don't worry, I'll keep his sister safe."

"Thank you," Bubble sighs in relief. "I'm gonna go tell Angus about this."

"What? Why would you do that? Oh, you mean about the _meeting_, don't you?" I laugh.

"What makes you think I'd try to break up Shloss?" Bubble grins.

"I dunno," I shrug. "The only reason I can think of is jealousy, and Gloss is a _little _too young for you."

"You've got that right," Bubble says. "But no, I'm happy for them. Remember what happened to Gloss's girlfriend?"

"Oh yeah, who could forget," I sigh. "The one that cheated on him with Cashmere's boyfriend?"

"Yep, that's the one," Bubble groans.

"Ugh, that was awful. Cash was depressed for months. Speaking of which, I've gotta save a baby bird from the foxes if you know what I mean," I say, gesturing to Cashmere.

"Right, I'll talk to you at the meeting," Bubble nods.

"Yeah, see ya then Bubbly," I say before pushing my way through the crowd.

I eventually make my way over to Cashmere, who's being attacked… erm, I mean, a Capitolite is flirting with her. No, scratch that. It's the same thing, now isn't it?

"Hey, leave her alone," I snap. The man shrinks back in fear when he sees me.

"Johanna Mason?" he trembles. "What are you doing over here?"

"Oh, you know, just keeping an eye on some of the younger victors. It's in the job description of a mentor," I shrug. "By the way, I'm giving you 10 seconds to leave this poor kid alone."

"And if I don't?" he asks just a little too boldly.

"I have a knife in my pocket and I'm not afraid to use it," I smirk. "In fact, both of us do. Right Cash?"

"Mine's a dagger," Cashmere corrects.

"Right, and you've got two of them, don't you?" I ask.

"I can use both of them at the same time, too," Cashmere says.

Cue the man scampering away like a frightened puppy.

"Ha, serves him right," I scoff. "You okay hummingbird?"

"Yeah, I guess. I could've handled myself you know," she says defensively.

"Oh I don't doubt it," I lie. The truth is, Cashmere's probably one of the weakest victors out there. She's in the group of accidental victors. At least she has Ivy, Annie, and more recently Peeta to keep her company. Speaking of which, there he is now.

"Should we pay bread boy a visit?" I ask nonchalantly.

"I thought we were supposed to stay away from them?" Cashmere frowns.

"No, we're supposed to stay away from Katniss. I don't think they meant Peeta," I smirk.

"Ohhh. Okay," Cashmere says, copying my smirk.

"Come on, let's go," I say, tugging on the younger girl's arm.

"Go where?" Blight asks.

"Oh, um… just to talk to someone," I half-lie.

"Okay," Blight says, obviously not buying it.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Meeting in the Gamemaker room at midnight," I whisper, quickly and effectively changing the subject.

"Good to know. I'll go tell Pine," Blight says before leaving.

"Phew, I thought we'd never get rid of him," Cash blurts out.

"Shhh, he could still hear us," I hiss. "Now come on, let's go talk to Peeta."

We're about to walk over to him when Cashmere's phone rings. "I'll be with you in a minute," Cashmere apologizes. "I just really need to take this."

"Okay, hurry up though," I say. I leave before she can respond, and find myself standing next to the cakes. And Peeta Mellark.

"So, how's victor life?" I say casually, trying to keep the scorn from my voice.

Peeta spins around in an instant and gasps in surprise. "Sorry, I didn't know you were there," he says quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Johanna Mason," I say, sticking out my hand.

"Peeta Mel-"

"Oh I know who you are," I scoff. "Let's cut to the chase, lover boy. I'm here to warn you."

"Warn me?" Peeta asks.

"Look, President Snow is inevitably going to ask you to do something unpleasantly disgusting. Because let's face it, he always does. I'm guessing for you it was your engagement to Katniss?"

"Well…" Peeta says nervously.

"Oh, sorry. Silly me, you're the one who _wanted_ that. Anyways, you'll have two choices. Bear through the pain, or risk the death of your loved ones. Your choice," I shrug.

"How do you know this?" Peeta asks.

"Let's just say it happens to everyone. I think I like my choices, although at times I regret them. However, this is _your_ choice. And please, for your sake as well as the rest of Panem's, make the right choice."

And with that I'm gone. I disappear into the crowd and try to relocate Cashmere. I finally do find her standing in the garden next to Gloss, paying close attention to President Snow's little speech. Katniss is there as well, standing next to Plutarch. I try to avoid her and squeeze into a spot between the twins.

President Snow takes a drink from his glass, and much to my horror, I can clearly see his drink turn to blood. I wrinkle my nose in disgust. Cashmere and Gloss seem to be holding in a laugh.

"How can you possibly find that funny?" I hiss under my breath.

"No, it's just… that's what me and Gloss were doing when you talked to Peeta," Cashmere snickers.

"Do I even want to know?" I ask.

"We slipped a laxative and sleeping powder into that thing," Gloss laughs.

I sigh. "It figures."

…

**District One's *sighs* what are we going to do with them?**

**(Also, yes that prank**_** was**_** played in one of my sister's stories, but it's kind of a running joke between us. One of us may use it again. Who knows?)**

**Quote of the day!**

"_And my tiara will fall off in three, two, one, flop!" _–me while watching home videos

**Pretty much what happened was that in the video I had on one of those little princess crowns and it kept falling over my eyes. I have very distinct memories of that incident and I'm not sure why. Like, if someone asked me to tell them my clearest memory from when I was 8, this would probably be it.**

**Anyways, may the odds be ever in your favor,**

**Spectrobes Princess**


	5. A Not So Peaceful Peacekeeper

1/19/15

**Hi again! You know how I said I'd polish up this chapter a little? Well, I did a little more than that. I rewrote it entirely. I'm going to try to do that for the next chapter, too, if I have the time. However, this also means that my sister hasn't had time to beta-read this chapter yet, so it might have a couple mistakes. I've read over it a couple times just in case, but you never know. **

**Reviews:**

**Lya200: Thanks :)**

**Stellaslomp: Trust me, her reaction is justified. It's coming up in about 4 chapters or so.**

**ColMikeFuser: Who knows? Well, I guess Snow does now. Definitely something Gloss would do, though.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.**_

…**..**

Chapter 5: A Not-So-Peaceful Peacekeeper

The Capitol is unusually silent after everyone leaves the party. There are few cars, businesses are starting to close, and it's so quiet that you can actually hear yourself think for a change. However, this also means that we'll probably be late for the meeting. I'm not going to worry about that, though, because it's not my fault. It's President Snow's. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't need this meeting to begin with. If you can't blame something on President Snow, you're just not trying hard enough, I've learned.

I look across the street, making sure that no cars are coming. Gesturing for the twins to follow me, I step onto the road. I hear the sound of Cashmere kicking off her heels, followed by two pairs of footsteps. At first I'm worried that she'll hurt her feet, but then I remember that it's not the first time she's gone barefoot. When we get to the other side, I turn around to make sure that they're still there.

"If you tell me we're going the wrong way I'm going to personally murder Heavensbee," I say grumpily.

"Relax, I've been here a couple times," Cashmere says, her chartreuse eyes glimmering with doubt. "I'm pretty sure this is the way."

"You're _pretty sure_," I say. "Great, that means we're lost."

"Not necessarily," Gloss says, sweeping a bit of caramel hair out of his eyes. "Remember, I've been there too. So far it looks like we're on the right path."

I sigh in defeat. Looks like I won't get to murder someone today.

"Okay, fine. How much farther is it? We've been walking for hours," I whine.

Gloss looks at his watch. "Actually, we've been walking for ten minutes," he corrects me.

"Whatever, it's all the same to me," I shrug. "My question?"

Cashmere surveys our surroundings for a moment, as if trying to remember exactly where we are. I must admit, memory isn't one of her strong suits. Gloss, however, gives me the answer without missing a beat.

"It should be right around the corner," he says.

"But which corner…" Cashmere says in a tone that would make you wonder if she was talking to you, or talking to herself.

"Come on," Gloss interrupts, putting a hand on her shoulder. He nudges her in the direction of a small white building.

"Oh, _that's_ what we're talking about," Cashmere says. "I thought we were talking about a different place. Sorry."

I roll my eyes. Sure, everyone makes mistakes, but if I had a dollar for every time I heard someone get confused like that in the past month, I'd be richer than Snow. Now _that's _when you know you have a problem.

"Jo? Are you coming?" Gloss asks.

"Oh, yeah," I say, following the siblings into the building.

When we open the door, the first thing I notice is a marble statue of a mockingjay. Cashmere and Gloss seem to notice it too, because Cashmere asks, "Why does it look like it's bleeding?"

Sure enough, the tips of its wings are painted red, and the paint rolls down its wings like a stream of blood. I take a step forward to touch it, but I'm interrupted by a voice.

"Step away from the statue," Nero says, dressed in a Peacekeeper uniform.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" I scoff. "A dirty psychopath? A stupid crack-head? Oh wait, I know, an ugly skunk with a broken nose."

"What do you mean? It's not broken," Nero says, obviously confused. I exchange a look with Gloss, who punches him in the face. Nero grunts and steps back in shock. "Now Mr. Rambin, that was a little bit un-called for."

"So are most of your actions," Gloss says.

Smooth one District 1, very smooth.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nero scoffs. "I'm just telling you children not to touch the statue."

Excuse me, but I'm 24 and they're 20. How dare he call us children, even _if _the twins act like it most of the time?

"You should have a sign, then," Cashmere says defensively.

Nero doesn't seem to have anything to say for himself, so he ignores Cashmere's comment entirely.

"Anyways, we really should be going. We have a meeting to attend to," I say as I start to leave.

Nero grabs me by the shoulder and starts hissing in my ear. "I heard your conversation with Roland. Stay away from my daughter. She's a Capitolite now and I don't want you ruining that. Do you hear me? She's mine!"

"Excuse me, but she's not_ just _your daughter. She's also my cousin! And I'll talk to her if I want to! Have a nice day, jerk," I snap, grabbing Gloss and Cashmere each by the wrist and dragging them away.

"What was that about?" Cashmere asks as we get to the Gamemaker Room. It's not the control room, but more or less it's the place where Gamemakers plan the arenas and crap like that.

"Just Nero getting his butterfly panties in a wad. Nothing you need to worry about," I say.

_Note to self: Try to call Ava when I get home. That'll show him._


	6. It Begins at Midnight

1/26/15

**Hi again! I was going to post this yesterday, but I got sidetracked. Sorry about that.**

**Thank you nutmegan56 for following, lilywhitesw for following, AkahanaOngaku for favoriting, and Violet2000 for following and favoriting.**

**Lya200- Sadly, this is not the last we will see of Nero. On the bright side, this means she gets to tell him off some more, and that's always good.**

**Stellaslomp- That's okay. And yes, there was a chapter of the original with the same name. I'm getting lazy :D**

**HarvestFall- I'm definitely going to write an "after Mockingjay" story sometime in the future. The only problem is that I have 3 different Headcannons for what happens, and I can't decide which one to write first (even though #3 hasn't had much thought put into it). One of my favorite next-generation OC's happens to be Johanna's daughter in Headcannon #2, so she'll be in there a lot. :)**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.**_

…**..**

Chapter 6: It Begins at Midnight

We walk into the room, only for 56 pairs of eyes to land on us.

"Surprise?" I say nervously.

"Well, look who made it," Haymitch says. Cashmere sneers at him, causing Gloss to roll his eyes.

"Funny that you'd say that, mister 'I can't appear in person so I'm going to talk to you on a screen'," Enobaria laughs.

"My tributes would get suspicious if I stayed behind, now wouldn't they?" Haymitch says defensively. Enobaria rolls her eyes.

"Take a seat," Plutarch Heavensbee says dully. I look at him suspiciously. Is this some kind of a trap?

"Excuse me?" I ask. People don't just gather up all the victors without having a good reason.

"He said to take a seat," Bubble says. I nod my head and look for a seat. If Bubble can trust him, I can too. That's just the way things work around here. I notice that the chairs are arranged in a circle, and they all have a number on them. Haymitch's screen is between the 49 and 51. There are a few (sixteen, to be exact) blank chairs that represent the deceased victors as well. I sit down on the chair marked 66, between Finnick and Shey. Gloss sits on the other side of Shey, and Cashmere sits between him and Annie.

"Can we start now?" Bubble and Gloss's mentor Velvet asks.

"Certainly," Plutarch says. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called you here."

"Of course we are," Seeder says. "How do we know this isn't a trap?"

There. Seeder has now said everything that the rest of us were suspecting.

"Now sweetheart, do you really think I'd be on a train if this was a trap?" Haymitch says.

"He's got a point. If this was a trap, they'd find a way to make him stay behind," Lyme points out.

"Well, I still don't like the looks of this," says Savannah, the formerly blind victor from District 9. "And even if I did, that's a pretty crappy reason to believe something."

"I guess you'll just have to trust me, then," Plutarch says. He walks over to the empty chair between Brutus and yet another empty chair.

"Don't sit there," Angus warns, as if he's guarding territory of some sorts. The older victors seem to get it, but my side of the circle is absolutely confused.

"Sorry," Plutarch says, pulling up a different chair and placing it in the middle. "I almost forgot about that."

"Whatever," Shey says, rolling her eyes. Unlike the rest of the younger victors, she seems to understand. I may ask her or Blight about it later.

"Is this about the rebellion? If someone messed it up, it wasn't me," Kai says. Ariel glares at him from her spot a couple chairs away.

"Well, yes. Yes it is," Plutarch says.

"Wonderful," says Ceratos, the victor of the 72nd Hunger Games. "We're here, at midnight, to talk about a rebellion that might not even happen. As if I don't get enough of this in District 5."

Cirra, the victor of the 71st Games, jabs him with her elbow. "There's always a possibility."

"She's right young man," his mentor Mikkiena says. "You shouldn't count the rebellion out _just yet_."

Ceratos scoffs and rolls his eyes. Cirra exchanges a bored look with Annie.

"So, without further ado, let's get this meeting started," an unfamiliar voice says. We all look around in confusion.

"Oops, forgot to turn the monitor on," Plutarch says nervously. He stands up and presses a button, causing a projector to turn on. A stern looking older woman with graying hair appears on it.

"Who are you?" Gloss asks.

"My name is Commander Alma Coin. Leader of District 13," she says.

"District 13?" Ceratos asks. "I thought there were only 12 districts?"

"Sorry, he's new," Blight interrupts.

"I'm not _that_ new," he grumbles under his breath.

"The Capitol did spare District 13," Coin explains, "But on one condition. We've had to hide for all these years, doing nothing to help our fellow citizens. But I feel that it is now time to break our deal," Coin says.

"So you mean you'll help us with the rebellion?" Shey asks. Although Shey isn't exactly the most rebellious victor, she certainly isn't the least rebellious. She, too, has had her share of rebellious actions.

"What did I just say?" Coin says.

"Right," Shey says, rubbing the back of her neck. "Just see'in if you were serious. You know, since it's not your fight and all…"

Coin glares at Shey for a moment, and Shey cowers back in fear. I glare back at Coin.

"Shey's right. We have absolutely no reason to trust you," I sneer. "And if you don't like it, you can go back to watching us suffer while you live a cushy life, just like the people you despise so much."

There's a deafening silence before Coin answers.

"Well Blight, your daughter seems to be a fighter after all," she chuckles.

What the heck does she mean by that? That she's doubted me all these years? Wait a second, that would require her _knowing _me for all these years.

Alright, it's official. I'm totally creeped out now.

Blight fakes a smile. "Why wouldn't she be?" he asks through gritted teeth. Good to know I'm not the only one who finds this creepy.

"No reason," Coin says, turning her attention back to Plutarch. "So, I'm assuming that you've figured out a way to start this rebellion?"

"We're still working on it," Plutarch explains nervously. "But you have to understand that these things don't happen overnight."

"Next time we talk I want you to have it figured out," Coin says. A second later, her face disappears from the screen and it shuts down.

"Well," Angus says smugly, leaning back in his chair. "That's the end of that."

Plutarch shoots him a glare.


	7. Suspicious Phone Calls

2/1/15

**Hi again! Sorry this took so long (ha, according to my schedule, this was supposed to be posted **_**10 days ago**_**).**

**Thank you stellannalee for favoriting and meeeeee22 for following and favoriting.**

**Reviews:**

**Stellaslomp- In that particular fanfiction (and in Headcannon #1), I have Johanna with Gale. I have no idea what I'm doing for #3, though. :/**

**Lya220- Coin just strikes me as the "creepy stalker" type, in a way. **

**Meeeeee22- Attina doesn't volunteer, although she does end up working at the Training Academy. Caspian is Annie's district partner. I'm planning on writing about Annie's Games sometime soon, probably when I finish Cashmere's, so you'll get more on that later.**

**Dcow14- That… actually would make a surprising amount of sense 0.o**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.**_

…**..**

Chapter 7: Suspicious Phone Calls

February is one of the better times of the year for me. It's not too cold, and things are just starting to warm up in District 7. However, this doesn't mean terrible things can't happen in February. No, I don't think tragedy is limited to a certain time of the year. Tragedy can happen at any moment, regardless of simple things such as the season and time of day.

Today is just another boring day for me, so I've had time to think these things over a couple times. It's not like anything particularly bad happened to me in the February after my victory. Maple's fractured ankle started to mess up again, hence her unusually loud gait, but other than that things were fairly calm. I think that's the reason I like February so much. I had just gotten over the deaths of my mother and my aunt Ivy, and it was like I had a chance to start over. But since February is my favorite month and all, I can't seem to figure out why I want to think about all the bad things that could happen in February. Maybe it's because Finnick called and said that Annie's sixth sense is going crazy.

Annie's sixth sense is probably the most useful tool that the rebels have at their disposal. As weird as it sounds, whenever something bad is about to happen Annie gets sick. It's usually a headache, but no matter what it is, it's always complete with Annie "having a bad feeling" about something. It's not really something she can describe, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that her sixth sense almost never fails. And by almost never, I mean rarely. So it makes sense why I'd be worried about something happening if her sixth sense is going haywire again.

The phone rings and I get up from my couch to answer it. My cell phone was, erm, "accidentally" destroyed when we were in the Capitol a couple months ago for the victory tour. I'm still waiting on the replacement. While a Capitolite would be going insane right now, I'm actually pretty chill about this whole situation. I pick up the phone and balance it against my shoulder.

"Y'ello?" I say lazily.

"Johanna Mason, we speak again."

My mood snaps from pleasant to, well, _un_pleasant.

"What do you want Nero?" I growl.

"Now Johanna, that's no way to treat your elders."

"Elder, huh? Well, you've got that much right, you dirty old man," I smirk.

"Enough of that!" Nero snaps. "Do you really think you can trust Plutarch Heavensbee?"

"Well, not initially. It took some getting used to, working with a Gamemaker and all, but who really cares? He's on my side now, not yours. Too bad, so sad," I sneer.

I'm a little confused about how Nero knows that Plutarch's working for us in the first place, but this is _Nero_ we're talking about. The little skunk seems to have eyes everywhere.

"You might want to rethink that," Nero laughs. I can just hear the smirk in his pathetic voice, but I try to ignore it.

"Why? Aww, are you trying to scare me? You know, it's cute that you even try anymore," I sneer. "And besides, what makes you think I'd trust _you_?"

There's a pause on the other end of the phone, and a door slams in the background. "Avalon Serenity Dark, I told you not to slam the door!"

I smile triumphantly at the sweet sound of parental defiance. In fact, it puts me in such a good mood I don't even bother to correct him that it's Dark-_Woods_, not just Dark.

"Who are you talking to?" I hear her ask.

"None of your business," Nero says. Okay, here's my chance to really tick him off.

"Hi Ava," I yell loud enough for her to hear. I can only guess how mad Nero is right now.

"Hiiiii Johanna!" Ava yells into the phone.

"Stop that!" Nero snaps. "Or else you're grounded."

"For what? Talking to a victor? Or is there something you're not telling me? Hmmmm?"

She knows. How Nero doesn't know that she knows is a mystery, though. Maybe he does know that she knows. Maybe he's just not letting her know. Or maybe I'm confusing myself.

Nero growls and hangs up. I laugh to myself and put the phone down before realizing something. Maybe, for once, Nero's right? What if we can't really trust Plutarch? What if he's working for Snow? I shake that thought from my head and decide not to focus on it. After all, when could I ever trust Nero about something?

…**..**

**Quote of the day!**

"_Shoot me now!"_ –my uncle upon discovering just how many episodes of my 4 year old brother's favorite show there are.

**May the odds be ever in your favor,**

**Spectrobes Princess**


	8. The Strongest of Us

2/7/15

**Hi again! So, I went through the chapters I haven't posted yet and combined the really small chapters with bigger ones, and now instead of having 20 prewritten chapters I only have 15. At least you guys won't have to deal with a 237 word chapter, though. This chapter was originally split into two, in case part of it seems a little awkward. I tried to fill in the transition, though, and I think I did a pretty good job. Anyways.**

**Reviews:**

**Lya200- Johanna is very proud of her kind-of-but-not-really cousin (you know, because they would've been cousins if Johanna's uncle was still alive because him and Ava's mom were engaged… and that would've made Johanna and Maple kind-of-sort-of related)**

**Stellaslomp- No problem! It's my first year of high school too, and trust me when I say I know how stressful it is. And I'm homeschooled, so I don't even have to deal with **_**half **_**the drama that most people do, so… I can't even wrap my mind around it. **

**Gabby Delacour- Bleh, homework sucks (despite what I said in the previous response, I**_** did **_**attend public school until the end of 6****th**** grade, so… yeah). "Shoot me now" can be applied to any situation, right?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.**

…**.**

Chapter Eight: The Strongest of Us

I pull my hair into a ponytail and check my newly replaced phone. One new message. Great, just great. At least it's not Blight nagging at me to hurry up before I miss the Quarter Quell announcement this time. No, it's just Finnick warning me that Annie's sixth sense is at it again. It's a group message too, so it must be pretty bad. I text him back and set it down long enough to finish putting on my crimson jacket, nearly identical to the one my ally Lewis wore. Blight, knowing what a "sentimental" person I am, gave it to me for my 17th birthday. However, I do like it enough to wear it on a regular basis. I've taken good enough care of it that it's lasted for the past 7 years.

7 years, huh? Way to make me feel old.

I zip up the jacket and check my phone again. Another text. I freaking hate this phone. I check it anyways. Apparently, the spell was powerful enough to send Annie into a flashback. Now I'm worried. They've never been that bad before. Nervousness gnaws at my gut. What could it possibly be about this time? Last time's spell was never even resolved.

Then it hits me. It's about the Quarter Quell. I send my idea to Finnick. His immediate response?

It looked something like this: ….

Yep. His response was a bunch of little dots. For those of you who aren't very text savvy, that usually means the sender has nothing to say about that topic, or in some cases that they're freaked out.

So yeah, we now know that the Quarter Quell will be nothing but trouble. I put on my shoes and run to Ivy's old house as fast as my legs can carry me. I don't even bother to knock on the door. I just barge right in and claim my spot on the couch.

"Well someone's in a hurry," Blight chuckles.

"Must've finally figured out the meaning of 'mandatory,'" Pine butts in.

"Oh ha, very funny," I scoff. "Don't you know we're in the middle of a crisis here?"

"What do you mean?" Blight asks, sensing that it's a time to be serious.

"Two words- sixth and sense," I snap. This shuts Blight and Pine up pretty quickly. A boy holding a wooden box walks up to President Snow and hands the box to him. My heart thumps wildly in my chest as he reads off the past Quells.

"You know, District 7 has a bit of a legacy going on," Blight says. "Pine's first Quarter Quell was the 25th year, mine was the 50th, and Jo-Jo's is this year."

"Gee, thanks _Dad_. That cheered us all right up," I say sarcastically. If this happened back when I was a teen, I think Blight would've been offended. Now, he doesn't even react.

President Snow pulls out the card. Our hearts are all racing now, just waiting to hear the bad news. Blight wraps his arm around me, and I don't hesitate to scoot closer to him. I wonder what it was like, waiting for the other two Quells. Maybe they were just as tense. But at the same time, I know that it's not even possible. Too much is at stake this time, with the rebellion going on, and the Capitol isn't above rigging these things.

"_On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol…"_

Crap, this can't be good. Blight and I shuffle even closer to each other, as if the small bond we share could save us now. Pine is just paralyzed in shock. He must know what's coming next. I wish I did.

"_The male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors." _

Nothing. That's all I feel. It's just… numbness. I don't even know how I feel. Of course, it's been a long time since I truly felt anything. But this is a different kind of numbness entirely. I'm going to die. I'm the only living female victor in District 7. I'm going back into the arena. The place I tried so hard to escape will once again be my home.

"No," Blight whispers. "They can't do this to us…"

I jump off the couch and kick the coffee table. I growl in frustration and throw a coaster at the TV. It shatters into thousands of shards of glass, but this doesn't relieve me of my anger.

"Are you okay?" Pine says dully. He, surprisingly enough, doesn't seem that upset. Maybe it's because he's at the age where death doesn't faze him anymore. The only living victor that's older than him is Mags. Dying has been a very real thing for him in recent years. Maybe he's even come to accept his fate.

"Pine, I'm thinking of a word," I say as calmly as I can. "A word that starts with an 'f'. A word that I'm not supposed to say," I say with a crazed laugh.

"Well, that settles it then. You're not okay," Pine says.

"Of course I'm not okay! Why the heck would I be!" I say, throwing another coaster at the wall. "I'm gonna die!"

Blight joins me in throwing coasters. "They just can't do this to us! Haven't we been through enough already!"

"Stupid, it's just stupid!" I hiss as one of the coasters dents the wall. I really don't care about the damage I'm causing, and neither does Blight. Right now, we're angry and this is the only way to get it out.

"What about this for a Quarter Quell? Make Snow go in, huh?" Blight grunts, breaking one of the coasters in half.

"Great idea, let's suggest it!" I snarl as I throw the last coaster. Blight and I exchange a look.

"Don't you think that maybe there was a less destructive way to relieve us of our anger?" Blight asks.

"You know what? You're probably right," I sigh. "We just had to throw sandstone into the walls, now didn't we?"

My cell phone is buzzing with texts, but I ignore them all. I just need time to think things over.

And then Ivy's home phone rings.

Blight and Pine exchange a worried glance. No one's lived in this house for years. However, I'm not worried about someone calling us. I know that Bubble knows that this is our meeting place. I can't say the same for my fellow mentors, though.

"I'll get it," I sigh, even though I'm really not in the mood to talk to anyone but Blight and maybe Pine.

I walk across the creaky floorboards and pick up the phone. "Hello?" I ask wearily.

"Johanna, thank goodness you picked up. We need to talk," Bubble's voice says.

"About the Quell?" I ask.

"Well, about something bigger than the Quell. I need to talk to you about what will happen to the rebellion…"

A smile hits my face. Even if I die, if I can stop the Games in the process than it will all be worth it.

"I'm listening," I say.

"Okay, good. How do you feel about busting out of the arena?"

"Bubble, on what planet would that be a problem?" I scoff. "Look, whatever the plan is, I'm in."

"Somehow I knew you'd say that," Bubble says. "We'll be in touch."

…**.**

**Quote of the day!**

"_But the door is locked! And the only way out is through the… __**perfume department**__." _–Spongebob

**(can we all just agree that this was the greatest moment in the history of Spongebob?)**

**May the odds be ever in your favor,**

**Spectrobes Princess**


	9. Deja Vu

2/11/15

**Hi again! So, I was supposed to update yesterday, but I was feeling lazy and I really don't have an excuse this time. I'm really, really sorry. And I'm also sorry for using the word "really" so much.**

**Thank you yellwocar1 for following.**

**Reviews:**

**Stellaslomp- Thanks! It was actually one of my favorite chapters to write. Mostly because I like writing Johanna's perspective when she's angry.**

**Lya200- I think it really says something about the priorities of humans. The Mockingjay was in danger, so they had to do something about it. Or maybe they were planning to bust the tributes out of the arena regardless, hoping that the fact that it was a Quarter Quell would have a greater effect on the rebellion. I can't decide which one sounds better, though.**

**Gabby Delacour- Not a problem for me, either. When people talk about getting headaches from going into Bath and Body Works, I honestly get slightly confused. The only thing I have against perfume is because I got sprayed in the eyes once when I was a kid. Still, I don't know if you've seen that episode or not, but it cracks me up every time.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.**_

…**..**

Chapter Nine: Déjà vu

Today is the day that everything changes. Today, the rebellion will truly begin. From the moment that Eliza calls the name of District 1's male victor, to the moment that we bust out of the arena. Once again, I will play one of my famous ruses. I will be aloof and uncaring, even though the life of my friends, and ultimately my family, is on the line. I will show our "beloved" President Coriolanus _Yellow_ Snow just how angry I am. And the best part? The first chance I get, I'll kill him.

I yawn and stretch out on my old and worn bed, pulling my blanket around me. I burry my head in my pillow and breath in its scent. I sneak my arm out of the blanket just long enough to grab the clock on my nightstand. It seems that I've slept in. No nightmares last night, either.

I put the clock back on the nightstand and force myself to get up. I take another wistful look around the room that was mine for the first 15 years of my life. It hasn't changed at all since then, except things are just a little dusty. Other than that, it's exactly the same.

I rub my eyes and make my bed. I then turn to the closet. I'm haven't really grown since then, so one of my old dresses should fit. I search the closet for a minute when something catches my eye. A little brown dress with black straps. The same dress I wore the day I was reaped.

I slip it on and tie the bow in the back. I take a long look in the mirror and smile. It still fits perfectly. Maple was wrong, I guess. Brown is my color.

I put on Mom's necklace and a pair of heels I brought from "home". Even though it's been a while since I actually lived here, this place will always be my real home. I'm brought out of my trance by a knock on the door. That's funny. I didn't think anyone knew I was here.

I walk down the stairs and open the door.

"Hey Jo-Jo," Blight says. Much to his surprise, I throw my arms around his neck and press my forehead to his shoulder.

"Today's the day," I mumble.

"You'll be okay," he reassures me. "You nervous?"

"For once, yes," I sigh. "But, you know, I'm an axe prodigy and a pretty good actor. That's gotta count for something, right?"

"Of course," Blight says. "Do you want to know the truth?"

I let go of him and nod my head. "What?" I ask.

"I'm scared too," Blight admits.

"You? Scared?" I scoff.

"You didn't think it was possible, did you?" Blight chuckles.

"No, not really," I say.

Blight smiles and messes up my hair. "Don't worry Jo. We'll be okay. You'll see."

"I hope you're right," I sigh. "Because I don't think President Snow will let that happen."

"Plutarch's the Head Gamemaker, remember? He won't send anything after us," Blight says.

"Snow will stop at nothing to make sure I'm dead. I'm one of the reasons he picked that card to begin with," I say.

Blight sighs. "Johanna, you know that I'll stop at nothing to keep you safe. So you can stop worrying."

"Right," I sigh. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yes Johanna?" Blight says.

"What do you think would've happened if, say, there was no rebellion? Do you think we'd still have to go back?" I ask.

"I really don't know," Blight says. "But even if we did, we'd figure something out. Start a rebellion of our own."

"Right," I say. I look at the time. "Come on, let's get to the square."

"Don't you need to eat or something?" Blight asks.

"Nah, I'll just eat that crappy Capitol food," I groan. "Come on, we need to go. Otherwise we'll be late."

Not that that would be a problem or anything. I'd do anything to be able to slap the Capitol in the face a couple extra times.

…

I feel some serious déjà vu right now. 9 years ago, I was at a reaping where I knew I would be picked, and I was prepared to act. Today, I'm at a reaping where I know I will be picked, and I'm still prepared to act. Weird, right?

I ascend the stairs on the stage and stand between Edward and Roland. "Look, we all know it's me. So let's save time and just not mess with it," I scoff.

"Well, in District 12 there's only Katniss for the females, and Angus is the only male in District 10. And isn't Mikkiena the only girl in District 5? I think they're still going to…"

Roland interrupts Edward. "Does it really matter? All of Panem knows that Johanna, Katniss, Angus, and Mikki are going in."

"Also, Ebenos is the only guy in 6," I say.

"The morphling?" Edward wrinkles his nose.

"If that's what you want to call him and Camille," I say, rolling my eyes despite the fact that I'm the one who came up with that nickname. "And it's just Seeder and Chaff left in 11. So I'm not sure why a lot of you guys are even bothering."

"She has a point," Roland says before turning to the audience to give a speech. Blah blah Dark Days, blah blah failed rebellion, blah blah Hunger Games. Same thing every year. It's getting really boring, actually. Someone should consider changing it.

I take my spot behind Pine's wheelchair, next to Blight. Roland finishes his speech filled of lies and turns the microphone over to Edward.

"Now, to reap the female tribute. Like we're supposed to," he says, glaring at me with his three glowing red eyes. I make a fake gagging noise.

He walks over to the girl's bowl, and just like last time I automatically know whose name he's going to call.

"Oh boy, I wonder who it's gonna be?" I yell sarcastically. Edward flinches, but continues as normal.

"Well isn't this a surprise," he says mockingly. "Johanna Mason."

I scoff and leave the boys for a moment. "Holy crap, it's me! I bet none of us were expecting that, huh? Plot twist, jerks!"

Edward ignores my ramblings and walks over to the boys' bowl. "Pine Larkforest."

"I volunteer as tribute," Blight says emotionlessly. He leaves Pine and stands next to me.

"Well look at that," Edward sneers. "It seems that once again Blight Mason has volunteered. Let us give both of our tributes a warm round of applause!"

Edward is greeted with silence. Maybe District 7 has some sense after all.

….

"Alright kids, I want you to pay close attention to the reapings," Pine says, keeping a close eye on Edward. "That way you know who you're up against. Maybe I can get one of you home on the train instead of a wooden coffin.

We wait for Edward to leave before we start. "Okay," Blight says. "Let's see our allies."

I reluctantly turn on the TV and we watch the reapings. I have a mini heart attack when I see that Gloss and Cashmere are reaped, with Bubble and Velvet as the mentors. Blight has to pause it so I can regain my composure. Once I have, we promise to save all of our over-reacting for the end of the video.

From District 2, Enobaria is reaped while Brutus volunteers for Achilles. Cirra and Lyme are chosen to mentor. Nuts and Volts are reaped in District 3, with all three of the remaining victors (Aria, Joshua, and Binary) to share mentoring duty.

In District 4, Finnick and Annie are reaped, but Mags volunteers for poor little Annie. I remember Finnick mentioning a meeting between the victors of District 1 and 4, where they decided that no one would volunteer. Mags must have missed the meeting though, and Annie's probably either feeling guilty or grateful. Probably both. This won't stop her from helping Kai mentor, though. Charlemagne and Mikkiena are reaped in District 5, leaving only Ceratos to mentor.

The "Morphlings", Camille and Ebenos, are chosen in District 6. Again, this only leaves one person, Kyva, for mentoring duty. We skip ahead to District 8's reaping. It's Cecelia and Woof, which leaves Violet and Crimson to mentor. In District 9, Eve and Rye are chosen, and of course that leaves Savannah and Barley as the mentors.

In District 10, unsurprisingly, Shey and Angus are reaped, thus putting _two_ father-daughter duos in this year's Games. The only other living victor, Aries, is left to mentor. Obviously Seeder and Chaff are picked for District 11, and since they're the only two left, they don't even get a mentor.

And then it's time for District 12. Katniss is reaped. Haymitch is reaped. Peeta volunteers. District 12 salutes them. And then they're dragged off to the train without being able to say their goodbyes.

At least they had people _to_ say goodbye to.

…

**I'm just a liiiitle bit hyper right now because I'm eating Rolos, so sorry if my author notes are too long. Just feel lucky that I didn't eat more gobstoppers (for those of you who didn't read the first fic/don't remember this, those things make me **_**extremely**_** hyper. Like, I kid you not I bounce off the walls. And to top it all off I still have **_**half a box in my candy stash**_**.…)**

**On that frightening revelation, here's the quote of the day!**

"_You can't make everyone happy! You're not a jar of Nutella!"_ –someone on Tumblr

**May the odds be ever in your favor,**

**Spectrobes Princess**


	10. The Tribute Parade part 1

2/16/15

**Hi again! Guess what? I'm not dead! It's a miracle!**

**No, really. I bet you guys assumed the worst. I would've updated earlier, but I needed to edit a few things in this chapter and I couldn't figure out how to do it, and then I had to go to a mini church camp thing, so yeah. **

**Thank you apple182 for following and favoriting.**

**Reviews:**

**Stellaslomp- I love writing Johanna's sarcasm. She's hilarious.**

**Lya200- I think that's what all of us would've done in this situation. **

_**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.**_

…**..**

Chapter Ten: The Tribute Parade- Part 1

"Really Clio?" I scoff. "Again?"

"What's wrong with my tree costumes!" my stylist gasps in offense. "They are perfectly amazing costumes, Johanna darling. You just haven't recognized my genius yet!"

"Oooh I bet," I say sarcastically.

"Good," Clio says, shoving the costume in my arms. "I knew someday we'd see eye to eye!"

I don't bother to tell her I was being sarcastic. I doubt she's even remotely smart enough to know what sarcasm is. Instead, I put my costume on and get it over with.

"Gosh, this thing is hot," I grumble.

"I know, right?" Clio says.

"No, not like that! I mean that I'm sweating a bucket a minute!" I snap. Clio backs away from me and holds her hands in the air.

"Well, I'm sorry!" she snaps. "But it was the only way for it to work!"

I roll my eyes. She glares at me. Neither of us talk for the next hour or so. And you know what? I'm perfectly fine with that. Because to be honest, Clio has always been my least favorite part of going to the Capitol. She's bratty, she's stuck up, and she could care less about her tributes. Unless, of course, they happen to be victors. But that doesn't mean I care about her in the least.

"Come on," she says at last. "It's time for you to go."

"Yes!" I say, fist bumping the air. Clio glares at me again, so I glare back.

The walk to the chariot garage is quiet as usual, but when I actually get there it completely changes. Mentors and tributes alike are engaged in lively conversations, the stylists occasionally joining in, but that's not the thing. The thing is that no one is necessarily staying by their own district. Chaff and Brutus are laughing at one of Cirra's jokes, Angus and Mags are arguing about something or another, and Cecelia is even talking casually with the District 6's. I spot Finnick pretty easily, wearing a costume that's somehow worse than mine. I abandon Clio and run over to him.

"Finnick!" I half yell, half laugh.

"Johanna!" Finnick laughs. I stop running a couple feet away from him, but I end up sliding the rest of the way on my forest green slippers.

"Cool trick," Shey smirks.

"Says the cow," I scoff. "What are you doing? Boiling yourself? Anyways, it's good to see you guys. Even under these circumstances," I say with a glare in Clio's direction.

"The three of us have the worst stylists," Shey sighs. "I'm a dying cow, Johanna's a tree, and Finnick's a… whatever that is."

"I have no idea," Finnick says, shaking his head. "I think I'm a fishing net."

"Yeah, something like that," I agree as Annie approaches us.

"Nice tree costume," she says shyly.

I try to smile. "Yeah, if you really think so. Lucky you, just having to mentor."

Annie ducks her head in embarrassment. "I don't know about that."

Shey wraps and arm around her. "Don't worry kid, we'll be okay."

"You don't know that," Annie insists. She gets a faraway look in her eyes and zones out for a second. We wait for her to come back before finishing our conversation.

"Wow," Shey says.

"Huh?" Annie asks.

"You brought yourself back," I say, feeling pretty impressed. "I'm proud of you scatterbrain."

"Oh, that," Annie says. "I, um, I've been working on it."

"See, you're not _that _pathetic," a voice scoffs. I smirk at the confused expression on Annie's face until she recognized the voice.

Annie spins around and throws her arms around the speaker. "Cash!"

"I missed you too," Cashmere laughs.

"Aww, why do you get a decent outfit," Finnick fake-whines.

"As much as I hate my stylist, I guess it's not impossible for him to have a good idea or two," Cashmere admits, gesturing to her costume. It's basically a snowy white jumpsuit, covered in tiny diamonds. Completing the outfit is a clear silver cape, and a couple of gemstones stuck around her eyes. It's one of the better parade costumes I've seen, to be honest.

"You look really pretty," Annie says.

"Thanks," Cashmere grins. "Wait until you see what it can do!"

"Another girl on fire rip-off?" Shey teases.

"Pretty much," Cashmere says. "Watch this!"

She presses a button on her shoulder, and the cape starts spraying glitter out of it. It completely covers the side of District 4's chariot.

"Look at me! I'm Katniss Everdeen!" she laughs as she twirls around, coating us all in glitter. Her brother appears behind her and shakes his head. He's wearing an outfit similar to hers, only his is tan instead of white. I think I get it now. She's a snowstorm, he's a sandstorm. His arena was a desert, her's was a frozen wasteland. Pretty clever on their stylists behalves, I must admit.

"Cash, we need to save the glitter," Gloss sighs. He grabs his sister by the shoulders and presses the button.

"Thank you Gloss," Shey says. "I'm gonna be washing glitter out of my hair for the next three weeks now!"

"Sorry," Cashmere says, catching her balance. "It was funnier in my head."

"No, you just did it to the wrong people," I say with a smirk. "Now, I think _Enobaria_ would _love_ to be sprayed in glitter."

"Johanna, we're not that gullible," Gloss says, tossing a sugar cube into his mouth.

"Oh fine," I huff. "Be like that."

"Where did you get that?" Finnick asks.

"Over there," Gloss says, gesturing to a table. "I think they're for the horses, but…"

"Be right back," Finnick interrupts, walking over to the table.

"Bring me some!" Cashmere yells. We give her an odd look. "What? They taste pretty good."

"You are something else, you know that?" Gloss asks.

"Glossy, you've known that for 21 years now," Cashmere smiles. "How does anything I do surprise you anymore."

"That's just the thing. It doesn't," Gloss says.

"Katniss looks awfully lonely," Annie comments. "Maybe we should go talk to her."

We notice the victor in question standing alone at her chariot, stroking a horse's mane. I can't bring myself to feel sorry for her like Annie can, though. Finnick comes back with a bowl filled of sugar cubes and sets it down on the chariot. We watch her for a moment before Finnick speaks up.

"Well, if none of you are going to talk to her, I will," Finnick says. He takes a handful of sugar cubes and approaches her.

"What is he doing?" I ask.

"Do we really want to know?" Shey asks.

"Probably not," Annie admits.

And with that, we watch the girl on fire get scared for life. Can't say she didn't have it coming, that's for sure.

…**.**

**Quote of the day!**

"_The defining quality is heart, and quite frankly you don't have one," _a girl on a movie we're watching

**May the odds be ever in your favor,**

**Spectrobes Princess**


	11. The Tribute Parade part 2

2/21/15

**Hi again! I'm so, so, so, so sorry that this took forever and a day to post. This week I had to write an essay on what my life would be like if I was a nomad, and as you can probably guess it was an impossible task. On the bright side, I got an A, so I must've done something right.**

**Thank you Princess luna 37 for adding this story to your favorites**

**Reviews:**

**Stellaslomp- Aww, thanks. Hopefully I'll get back on track with my updating schedule soon.**

**Gabby Delacour- Fun doesn't even begin to describe it. At one point my group got locked out of the house we were staying at, though, so… yeah… memories I'll have forever…**

**Lya200- The best part of that was that it was even mentioned in the books. I was rereading Catching Fire so I could make the story accurate, and then I caught that part and realized that the "cows with flaming belts" thing was referring to Shey and Angus and I burst out laughing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.**

…**.**

Chapter Eleven: The Tribute Parade Part 2

Shey yawns bordly and feeds one of the horses a sugar cube. "What does Finnick think he's doing?"

"No clue," I shrug.

"Hey victors. Cashmere," Haymitch says as he walks past with Peeta.

"Aww, it's nice to know I'm appreciated. Thank you Haymitch, for your wonderful words of wisdom," Cashmere sasses.

"You're welcome sweetheart," Haymitch says sarcastically.

"Um, Peeta? I think Finnick's trying to steal your fiancé," Gloss says.

"What do you mean?" Peeta asks.

Shey gestures to Finnick.

"Oh," Peeta says.

"Hey, I don't like this any more than you do," Annie says quietly. Peeta doesn't seem to notice.

"Better go catch her loverboy," I smirk.

"Right," Peeta says before walking off.

"I'd better keep him in line. I'll talk to you later," Haymitch says, sprinting towards Peeta. This idea, however, is soon abandoned and he starts talking to Seeder and Chaff. I'm guessing that he'll take over as their mentor as well, which is funny since both of them are older than him. The only other case where this happened that I can think of is Blight with Ivy, who was a year younger than him.

Blight walks up to me in a tree costume that ridiculously similar to mine. "Come on Jo-Jo, we need to catch the chariot."

I notice that the twins have long since left, and that Kai and Annie are helping Mags stand next to Finnick. "Oh," I say. "Okay."

We find our chariot with ease from all the years of mentoring, and we climb on without really thinking. We steady ourselves and wait for the chariot to take off.

"Remember, no waving," I tell Blight. "We're above these losers, and they're not worth our time."

"Right," Blight says. "Not like that'll be hard, right?"

"Exactly," I say as our horses start trotting behind Camille and Ebenos. "This will be a piece of cake."

…...

"Did I say piece of cake? I meant total disaster," I growl as Blight helps me off the chariot.

"It wasn't that bad," Blight assures me.

"Um, yes it was. No one was even paying attention to us! They were all looking at Brainless and Lover Boy!" I snap. "Now I know how last year's tributes felt."

"Isn't that a good thing? At least they didn't catch us looking ridiculous. Remember Hanna, these Games don't matter," Blight says calmly.

"Not that they ever did," I sigh.

The silence between us in unbearable, so I add, "Look, I'm going to talk to the twins about making an alliance. I don't think Haymitch and Plutarch would mind, now that we know District 4 is going with District 12."

"Can I join?"

"Huh?"

"The alliance?" Blight asks.

"Oh, of course," I say. "Why, did you think you weren't invited or something? Maybe we can get District 10 too, or something."

"Okay," Blight agrees. "I want 2 and 11, but I think that might be pushing it. Maybe 3 too."

"Why can't we just ally with everyone," I sigh. "See you later."

"See you too," Blight says.

I find Cashmere and Gloss talking to Wiress and Beetee. Typical.

"Hey, guys. Alliance?" I ask.

"Who? Me?" Cashmere asks.

"Yeah, and Gloss."

Gloss and Cash exchange a look.

"Sure? Why not?" Gloss says.

"Well, there's always the possibility that she could kill you in your sleep," Beetee points out. Even Wiress gives him a funny look.

"Like that would happen," Cashmere says.

"She's just…" Wiress begins, before stopping to think. "Cashmere's right."

"You asked why it would be a bad idea," Beetee points out. "I was simply stating the facts."

"Oh right, because I totally asked for your opinion," I say sarcastically.

"You're being a little rude," Gloss points out.

"Whatever," I say before realizing that he's got a point. "Sorry Volts. I've gotta go. Blight's probably wondering where I am."

"Right, see you around," Gloss says.

"Bye," Wiress says. Beetee just nods his head.

"Don't strip on the elevator," Cashmere jokes.

"Don't tell me what to do, little bird."

Cashmere's facial expression instantly changes from cheerful to mortified. With that, I spin around and stomp towards the elevator District 12 is boarding. I hear an exasperated sigh from Cash, and the sound of what must surely be Gloss facepalming. On the other hand, the look on Everdeen's face will be worth it. Getting rid of the costume happens to be an added bonus.

…**.**

**So I'm just gonna leave it there because when I first wrote this I **_**really**_** didn't want to write the elevator scene, and now I'm just too lazy to write it. So yeah…**

**Anyways, quote of the day!**

"_I'm never going to think of elevators the same way again! Actually, I already don't. Thanks a lot Johanna Mason!" –_Me while doing elevators in P.E.

**Why yes, I have been saving that for this chapter.**

**May the odds be ever in your favor,**

**Spectrobes Princess**


	12. Training

3/1/15

**Hi again! I know I said I'd try to update sooner, but I had another essay. Luckily, that was the last one for a while, so maybe I'll be able to get back on track. I only have an update scheduled once a week, but I'll try to get ahead of my schedule because I have to go to a homeschool conference in a couple weeks. That, and I feel like I owe it to you guys.**

**Reviews:**

**Stellaslomp: Ha, yeah. That scene would be just a liiiittle bit awkward. I love the quotes too. The first couple times I did them it was a contest to see who could guess where the quotes came from, but I kept picking quotes from lesser known fandoms (mostly Spectrobes and The Last Unicorn) so no one could guess them, so then it turned into being just a quote.**

**Lya200: You'll see what happens to the alliance (and how she gets stuck with Wiress and Beetee) in a few chapters. The plan that they have right now is a bit different from the one that ends up being used, but more on that later. **

_**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.**_

…

Chapter Twelve: Training

"Blight," I snap. Blight ignores me and tosses his blanket over his head. "Come on Dad, you've gotta get up. We have training to get to."

"I'll be down later," he yawns. "Just give me some time to wake up."

I let out a huff of frustration. "Atala's going to murder me in cold blood if you aren't there."

"She probably expects it," Blight says. "I bet half of us won't even show up. You know, 'cuz we have better things to do. Like sleep."

I try not to laugh. "Okay, fine. I'll let you sleep in. But don't blame me if you miss training entirely."

"Thanks," Blight mumbles as I leave the room.

I sigh and grab an energy bar for breakfast. I eat it as I walk down the stairs because I don't want to take the elevator. Not after last night's events, anyways.

Tossing the wrapper in the trash can, I enter the training room with a strange amount of confidence. I can do this. I really can. I stand between Shey and Finnick and listen to Atala's instructions. Blight was right, I soon find out. As of right now, about eight or nine of us are missing. I look around and try to decide who it is. I notice the absence of a certain pair of twins immediately, as well as the tributes from 9. Angus isn't here, leaving me and Shey to get at least a little time away from our fathers. The girls from 5 and 11 aren't here either.

I take a moment to remember who was reaped. Cashmere, Gloss, Mikkiena, Blight, Eve, Rye, Angus, and Seeder. That's who's missing.

I turn to Shey and whisper, "Do you know where your dad is?" It's just not possible that_ all _these people wanted to sleep in.

"Strategy meeting with Haymitch and the mentors," Shey whispers. "They only want to talk to a few of us at a time though, to lower suspicions. Haymitch figured that, being the first day and all, not very many of us would show up under normal circumstances."

"Do you think that's where Blight is?" I ask, still whispering.

Shey shakes her head. "He would've told you if that's what it was."

Atala dismisses the group before walking over to us.

"Ladies, I know you've heard this talk before, but you have to listen to me when I'm speaking," Atala says gently.

"Sorry," Shey apologizes. "She was just wondering where my dad was."

"And that would be?"

Shey and I exchange a worried glance. "Just taking some time off," I say coolly. "This Quell thing is making him feel his age, I guess."

Shey nods her head. "Yeah, it's making me feel _mine_ too."

"24 isn't that old," Atala says. "Wait until you hit 40."

Wait, Atala's _40_? The wonders of plastic surgery, I tell you.

"Not like that," Shey says. "Just making me feel more grown up, that's all. Before the announcement, I was still kinda stuck in teenager land."

Atala chuckles and leaves us alone.

"Good cover," Shey says.

"Thanks," I sigh. "So, do you want to go to wrestling first?"

Shey's eyes light up, reminding me that hand-to-hand combat is her specialty. She's only about 5'4", so her small size makes it easy for her to dodge attacks, but she's also quite muscular from continuing to work in her district's industry. Due to this, she's pretty good at defending herself.

"Yeah, sure, that'll be fine," she says, trying to hide her excitement. I hold in a laugh as we go over to the empty station.

"You can go first," I offer. I don't have to ask her twice, though. She instantly strikes up a conversation with the Capitol attendant and leaves me to sit on the bench and watch.

I notice Peeta throwing some spears with Brutus and Chaff. I take a look at Shey to make sure that she'll be okay. She seems to be doing fine on her own, which manages to remind me that she's not that little 16 year old anymore. I sigh and shake my head. We've grown up so fast. It seems like only yesterday that I met her on the victory tour.

I make my way over to Peeta, Brutus, and Chaff. I wave at Finnick as I'm walking, who waves back. "Hey guys," I smirk, picking up a spear of my own.

"Hey Jo," Chaff nods.

"I didn't know you could throw," Brutus says.

"Well, I don't, but I was just coming over here to talk. What? Is there something wrong with that?"

"Not at all," Peeta says, probably still thinking about what happened last night. Hey buddy, that _almost _annoyed me as much as it did you.

"So, spears, huh?" I ask. I give Brutus the "_does lover boy know"_ look. Brutus shakes his head. Shoot.

"Wanna watch me wrestle?" I ask casually.

"There's a wrestling station?" Peeta asks.

"Yeah, it's more of Shey's forte than mine, but I'm not bad," I shrug. "Come on, I'll show you."

Brutus and Chaff give me a curious look, but I shake it off. As we get there, I notice Katniss Everdeen staring at me. I pretend that I'm about to strip to divert her attention. Luckily, it works. I laugh to myself.

"So that was some kind of joke?" Peeta asks.

"Of course. Well, it was slightly to spite my stylist," I shrug. "I meant what I said, you know? About Clio being the biggest idiot in Panem?"

"Right," Peeta says. "Katniss got pretty annoyed."

"Oh, I bet she did. Seeing that she hangs out with Nuts and Volts and all," I shrug.

"Who?" Peeta asks.

"Wiress and Beetee," I explain. Peeta nods his head as I remember that Shey's still playing around. "I guess we'll have to get back to this later."

"Okay," Peeta says awkwardly.

"Feel free to join me and some of the _real_ victors at lunch," I say, as if to remind him that he doesn't belong here. Not yet, anyways.

"Oh… okay," Peeta says.

Satisfied that I've made him uncomfortable, I join Enobaria at the swords station. Neither of us say anything, which suits us just fine. The two of us have an odd friendship based on… well, not talking to each other. Actually, I'm not sure if she'd actually qualify as a friend. But right now, sticking next to her is my best option. I need to remind the District 12's that I'm supposed to be their enemy, after all.

…**..**

**I just now realized that it's been **_**forever **_**since I updated Reading The Hunger Games and Metamorphosis, so expect updates on those soon (even if the RTHG one is only another interlude).**

**Also, I'll probably end up posting Chapter 13 when I get Mockingjay on DVD, and I think that'll be on Friday or Saturday (I'm not sure which one yet, though) but it might be earlier :)**

**Quote of the day!**

"_One pair on underwear lasts me 4 days. I wear them in front, then I wear them in back, then I turn them inside out and wear them front and back again. It's called recycling!" _–Big Hero 6, Fred (that_ is _his name, right? I always get his name mixed up for whatever reason)

**May the odds be ever in your favor,**

**Spectrobes Princess**


	13. Training part 2

3/10/15

**Hi again! Sorry, I said I'd update on Friday, but then I had to babysit and on Saturday I had something else going on (can't remember what, though), on Sunday I had church and I had to clean the basement, and schoolwork took me all day yesterday so updating then was out of the question. I'll get my crap under control one of these days *wistful sigh***

**Thank you Quenn of Colours for following/favoriting, Josephm611 for following, Lya200 for reviewing, and stellaslomp for reviewing :)**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention**_

…

Chapter Thirteen: Training part 2

I walk into the cafeteria, and I'm instantly flooded with memories. I haven't really been here since the night before my Games, when I retreated to its safety after humiliating myself during the interviews. This is the place where I met Lewis, too. I may have allied with him on the training floor, but we met here. I shake away the memory and grab Finnick's shoulder.

"When do you think Haymitch will talk to us?" he asks in a quiet voice. I shrug and look around the room. I spot two familiar faces, only they aren't walking in from the entrance that everyone else is using.

"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up," I say in a fake sneer. The twins involuntarily flinch.

"It's not like we had a choice," Gloss says.

"Yeah," Cashmere agrees.

"Whatever," I say, rolling my eyes. I look over at the group of people standing in line to get food. I still can't help but compare it to the cafeteria at school. I bet everyone will find their little cliques now.

Oh no, we are _not_ playing cliques with the victors. Not if I can help it.

"Come on, help me push these tables together," I say, trying to push a table to the center of the room. Gloss and Finnick join me, while Cashmere goes to fetch Brutus and Enobaria. We eventually get the tables pushed together and fall into the line for food. One by one, the remaining victors enter the room. At this point, the only one of us who's missing is…

"Blight?" I ask.

"Hey Hanna," he says, setting down his tray between me and Finnick. He takes a seat and pats me on the shoulder.

"Where have you been?" I snap in a whisper.

Blight shrugs. "I just had to take care of a couple things.

I sigh and rub my temples. "A couple things wouldn't have taken you the first half of training."

"Sorry," Blight apologizes. "Those couple things just took longer than I thought they would. But I'm here now, aren't I?"

"I guess so," I scoff, and I go back to eating.

"What _were_ those things?" Finnick asks.

"Just things," Blight says.

Gosh, this is cryptic even for Blight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Mason family circus," Shey mumbles under her breath. I almost choke on my mystery meat.

"What?" I ask.

"Just… you two," Shey laughs.

"Yeah, right. Don't worry Cowgirl, you don't have to pay for the show," I scoff.

Shey punches me on the shoulder. I punch her back.

"Ouch. I probably deserved that," Shey admits.

"Yes you did," I agree. "And so did I. Now, on to business. What station are you going to next?"

"I guess I'll try archery," Shey says. "You know, to get the feel of it," she drops her voice to a whisper. "I may have to bring Katniss her bow. I don't want to seem incompetent with it."

"Good idea," I say nodding my head.

"I may as well go with her," Angus says. "Finnick?"

"No thanks, Mags and I were there earlier," Finnick comments. "I think I'll just stalk the newbies. See what they're made of."

"Suit yourself," Shey says. "Gloss? Wanna come with?"

Gloss ducks his head slightly. "I'd love to, but I think Cashy wants to drag me to the hammocks," Gloss says, nudging his sister with his elbow. She scowls at him and he laughs. "Not like she needs the practice. I swear she can make a decent hammock out of anything."

"Really?" Blight asks.

"Yeah, it might as well be my talent, if it weren't for my guitar," Cashmere says. "Oh, I made this one that hangs off my balcony- scares the crap outta Gloss. I swear, it's not like it's that high up, but…"

"It's going to break one of these days," Gloss says defensively. "You're the only family I have left, Cash. Gotta keep you safe somehow."

"Glossy, it can't possibly break because _I'm_ the one who made it," Cashmere says proudly. "Besides, it's been up there for years. If it was gonna break it would've done it by now."

"I guess you're probably right," Gloss admits. "So what about you Johanna? Where are you going next?"

I look at Blight and shrug. "I dunno. Axes, maybe?"

"Sounds like a plan," Blight agrees.

….

Time goes by quickly. I catch up with my old friends, make a new one out of Lover Boy, and just generally get better with my axe. It's funny, really, how well I can still throw an axe. It's been so long that I'd all but forgotten. Same goes for Blight. But the two of us are still better than anyone else in the training center. I bet we even rival Katniss's ability with a bow. Maybe even Finnick's ability with a trident. Or not, but it's still a nice thought. A _really_ nice thought.

"Private Sessions are today," Finnick comments.

"Really?" I say sarcastically. "I never noticed."

Finnick laughs. "So what are you going to do?"

I shrug and poke at my mystery meat. I'm not sure why I always get some, when I hardly end up eating it. Maybe it's to remind me that even the Capitol has to endure trials, even if they're as trivial as not knowing what they're eating. Not that anyone in District 7 would mind it. A little under a fourth of us wouldn't even notice. Okay, scratch off every bit of sympathy I have for the citizens of the Capitol.

"I should tie some knots. Throw my trident. But they're expecting that. I need to do something else, too," Finnick says nervously.

"They probably want you to strip," I scoff.

"Nah, I think I'll leave that for you," Finnick teases as I regret telling him about my prank in the elevator. I punch him in the arm. Harshly.

"Well, if Finnick strips, I'm doing ballet," Angus laughs.

"Aww, you took mine," Blight fake whines.

"What is wrong with our dads?" Shey whispers. I shrug in response.

"I know what I'm going to do," Cashmere says. We all look to her for explanation. "Sing, duh."

"You sing?" Peeta asks. It's not really a scorn, more of a genuine question.

"Yeah," Cashmere says.

"It's her talent," Gloss adds.

"You know what? I'll just tell jokes," Chaff laughs. "Why did the cookie go to the doctor?"

Silence.

"Because he was feeling a little crummy!"

Only Katniss and Peeta laugh.

"You like that? Here's another. Why did the aardvark cross the road?"

"To beat up the idiot who keeps telling jokes about him?" Enobaria guesses. This time everyone laughs.

"Forget Chaff telling jokes," I laugh. "Leave it to Enobaria!"

"What about you Mags?" Peeta asks. We all look at her and wait for an answer.

"Take a nap," Mags shrugs.

It figures.

…

**If anyone got the "why did the aardvark cross the road/why did the cookie go to the doctor" reference, this is a sign that I've been watching too much Teen Titans recently. Too much Young Justice too, I guess. On second thought, you can **_**never **_**watch enough of either of those, so… I regret nothing.**

**Speaking of TT/YJ, my Teen Titans OTP has always been Cheshire and Speedy and the last time I watched Young Justice I got to "Targets"… let's just say I had a **_**huge **_**fangirling attack… (if that doesn't make any sense, both of those characters are in Young Justice too, only Speedy goes by Red Arrow instead but it's the same person, and in that episode they had a LOT of screen time together. What makes it even better is that in Teen Titans Cheshire didn't even have a speaking role and in this show she couldn't seem to shut up)**

**Long story short, if you've never seen either of those you need to watch them asap**

**Quote of the day!**

"_Maybe I don't recognize you sober." _–Mockingjay part 1, Katniss Everdeen

**May the odds be ever in your favor,**

**Spectrobes Princess**


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